Responding to the increased popularity of herbal medicines and other forms of complementary or alternative medicine in countries around the world, this reference reviews and critically evaluates various safety, toxicity, and quality-control issues related to the use of traditional and herbal products for health maintenance and disease prevention and treatment–selecting case studies.

It showcases some of the most widely used herbal remedies to discuss their possible effects on human health and wellness.

This volume is a major reference source for all concerned with medicinal plants.

ContentsIntroduction

Integrating Traditional and Complementary Medicine into National Healthcare: Learning from the International Experience

Can Traditional Medicine Coexist with Modern Medicine in the Same Health Care System?

Clinical Trials for Herbal Extracts

Herbal Medicine: Criteria for Use in Health and Disease

Effects of Phytochemicals in Chinese Functional Ingredients

Herbal and Traditional Medicine

Tea and Health

Gingko Biloba: From Traditional Medicine to Molecular Biology

Ginger

Lingzhi Polyphorous Fungus (Ganoderma Lucidum)

Epimedium Species

Lingusticul chuanxiong Hort.

Salvia miltiorrhiza

Schisandrin B and Other Dibenzocyclooctadiene Lignans

Spirulina: An Overview

Averrhoa bilimbi

Lentinus edodes: Shiitake Mushrooms

Cruciferous Vegetables and Chemoprevention: The Mechanisms of Isothiocyanate-Mediated Chemoprotection in Humans

Pharmacological and Chemopreventive Studies of Chrysanthemum

Andrographis paniculata and the Cardiovascular System

Rosemary

Crataegus (Hawthorn)

Resveratrol: The Promise Therein

Pharmacological and Physiological Effects of Ginseng

Antioxidant Activities of Prickly Pear Fruit and Its Betalains: Betanin and Indicaxanthin